Lessons Remembered: From Manila to Kabul the Roots of the US Counterinsurgency Strategy in Afghanistan

Too often, the American people are told from pundits and experts that as a nation and a military, the US and coalition partners are fighting a new kind of war. In reality, it is new only to those that have not studied history and fail to understand the counterinsurgency lessons learned on battlefields stretching from the Philippines to Vietnam. America has a long history of successful counterinsurgency operations, and though it is very difficult to apply tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) from the past directly to a modern conflict. In reality very little throughout, the history of warfare is truly revolutionary or new. The teachings and writings of Sun Szu, Clausewitz, Boot and Caldwell are just as relevant and applicable today as they were when written. Only the weapons and equipment employed by modern armies are truly transformational or revolutionary, and only a foolish military planner discards the sound operational and strategic lessons from the past. The basic tenets of counterinsurgency operations have changed very little over the past 100 years and it is these operational and strategic lessons that can be applied by US and coalition partners in support of current operations in Afghanistan.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.